Special report on Senate passage of health care reform

This is a special edition of Texas on the Potomac news links devoted to Senate’s early-morning vote today adopting the Democrats’ version of health care reform. We will return to our regular format tomorrow.

The health care legislation was adopted on a party line vote of 60 to 39. Republicans stood united against the blueprint and vowed to continue to challenge the measure.

Texas’ two Republican senators voted against the measure.

The vote is a victory for President Obama who had made health care reform a cornerstone of his presidential campaign.

The legislation now moves to a House-Senate conference committee where lawmakers from both chambers will try to work out differences between the two versions of the bill. The conferees are expected to be named by the House and Senate leadership in time to begin meeting when Congress returns to the nation’s capital early in the new year.

Sen. John Cornyn, R-San Antonio, said Republicans would continue to fight the legislation. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Dallas, called the legislation disastrous. (See their complete statements on the jump page below.)

“I had hoped that one of my colleagues would have a Christmas Eve conversion and give the American people the gift they really want: a vote against the $2.5 trillion Reid Bill. We lost a battle today, but the fight is far from over.

“My colleagues and I will to do all that we can to identify every payoff and back room deal that Democrats cut to railroad this bill through.

“And we will continue to stand with millions of Americans who understand that, if this bill is enacted, their taxes will be raised, their premiums will go up and Medicare will be cut by nearly a half trillion dollars to create a new entitlement.”

Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Dallas, said:

“The Democrats’ health care bill that was crafted in secret, packed with sweetheart deals to get their 60 votes, and rushed through, was passed today in a strictly partisan vote.

“This disastrous bill will raise taxes on American families and businesses, impose mandates on individuals and states, and add trillions to the cost of health care.

“Today’s vote did nothing to make health care more affordable or accessible.

“The American people rightly oppose this bill. The fight will continue as the House and Senate versions of the bill are very different and if they cannot be reconciled, there might be a chance that we can start over again.”